The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has continued to spread, with India, France and Iran becoming the latest countries to confirm the presence of the virus. In western India the strain was found among thousands of dead chickens at a farm, and health officials are testing eight people for possible infection. France and Iran also reported their first H5N1 cases, following tests carried out on dead birds. The strain has killed at least 90 people since it emerged in 2003. It can be caught by humans who handle infected birds, but it is not yet known to have been passed between people. Scientists have warned that if the virus mutates it could create a pandemic that would kill millions of people. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff on Sunday defended the government's security review of an Arab company given permission to take over operations at six major U.S. ports. "We make sure there are assurances in place, in general, sufficient to satisfy us that the deal is appropriate from a national security standpoint," Chertoff said on ABC's "This Week." London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., was bought last week by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business from the United Arab Emirates. Peninsular and Oriental runs major commercial operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. U.S. lawmakers from both parties are questioning the sale, approved by the Bush administration, as a possible risk to national security. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/19/national/main1330431.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1330431

Iran's hard-line Islamic spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented fatwa, or holy order, approving the use of atomic weapons against the country's enemies. Muslim clerics for the first time have questioned the theocracy's traditional viewpoint that Shariah law forbids the use of nuclear weapons. One senior mullah has now said it is "only natural" to have nuclear bombs as a "countermeasure" against other nuclear powers, a reference considered to be the United States and Europe. The pronouncement was issued by Mohsen Gharavian, a disciple of the extremely hard-line Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, widely regarded as the cleric closest to Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi's group opposes virtually any kind of rapprochement with the West and is believed to have influenced Mr. Ahmadinejad's refusal to negotiate over Iran's nuclear program. ...http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060218-115245-5182r.htm

A soldier wounded in Afghanistan and the widow of his slain comrade were awarded a $102.6 million judgment from the estate of a suspected al-Qaeda financier.U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell said the lawsuit may be the first filed by an American soldier against terrorists under the Patriot Act.But Sgt. Layne Morris, of West Jordan, and the family of medic Christopher Speer, could have a difficult time collecting their award, because the assets of the suspected financier are unknown.Other soldiers have difficulty identifying their attackers, making it difficult to hold individuals responsible.Morris cited news reports — including interviews with his attacker's immediate family — indicating that Omar Khadr, then 15, had wounded him and killed Speer. The ruling, released Friday, cited similar evidence that the boy's father, suspected financier Ahmad Sa'id Khadr, was linked to al-Qaeda and trained his son to attack American targets....http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-19-attack-judegment_x.htm?csp=34

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff on Sunday defended the government’s security review of an Arab company given permission to take over operations at six major U.S. ports. “We make sure there are assurances in place, in general, sufficient to satisfy us that the deal is appropriate from a national security standpoint,” Chertoff said on ABC’s “This Week.” London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., was bought last week by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business from the United Arab Emirates. Peninsular and Oriental runs major commercial operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10704051/from/RSS/

They lie in battered beds, hooked up to IV drips, their skeletal mothers beside them. Their cries are barely audible for now, but their woes won't end when they have gained weight. All of their families' wealth their cattle and goats are dead. When drought comes, the very young and the very old are the first to suffer. But according to the latest U.N. figures, they are only the most visible of 11.5 million East Africans who don't have enough to eat. Hunger strikes Africa for reasons as diverse as its 53 countries drought, locusts, government policies that wreck the agricultural economy. In East Africa, which includes Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, drought arrives every few years, usually predicted months in advance. Drought does not have to cause hunger, but inevitably it does. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1638285&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312